Creatures of Snow (32 page)

“You let us old guys worry
about that.” Zeph put his arm around his shoulders and gestured for
him to walk. “And you, just worry about the best way to relax.
Enjoy your time off.”

They walked down the
narrow corridor in silence, their footsteps resounding for
eternity.

“
How much do you know?”
Zeph spoke in a near whisper.

“As much as I can handle
right now.” He certainly had a lot of questions, but he was
certain, he couldn’t take any more information, at least, not
today.

“That’s a good answer.” He
patted him on the head gently as they came to the Common’s door.
“And when you’re ready, I’ll be right here. Well, not
literally
right here.
I’ll be somewhere though.” He gave one last reassuring nod
and strode off down the hallway, “I’m going to go check on the
Captain, you better go settle in, it’s going to be quite a
ride.”

With a chuckle he watched
Zeph march down the hallway till he rounded the corner, out of
site. He breathed deep, trying to calm his frayed nerves, readying
himself, to put on a show of normality for his friends.

Chapter
Twenty-
Four

It had been ages since Al
had been on the
Regan
Fortuna
. It was a magnificent ship. Old,
but well built, with large rooms and plenty of comfort.

Everyone quickly made
themselves at home – settling in around the round tables. Sara, Lee
and him chose the one nearest the window while Roland found a
comfortable spot, on the opposite side of the room.

The curved and padded
seats were a comforting welcome to tense bodies. They all acted
normal on the outside, but he knew they had to be just as
conflicted as he was. Change is always hard, and this was a major,
unexpected flip flop, that affected their entire future.

“It is a large ship. Do
they fly for more then just a hobby?” Lee broke the silence that
had been slowly growing.

Al nodded and gestured
around the room. “Even the Haven races’ have to make a living. The
Captain and Zero run a pretty successful business…I’m surprised you
haven’t heard of Fortuna Freight.”

The name sparked a note of
recognition in Lee. “Yes, Fortuna Freight. We use this company
often on Agon. I never made the connection.”

Al leaned forward on his
seat, settling in, “Yeah, they’ve been at it as long as I can
remember. Keep’s them out of trouble, that’s for sure.”

They all nodded absently,
Al knew that none of them actually cared about the conversation.
Their minds were all on the same thing, even if they were too
scared to say it.

“
Are we really doing
this?” Sara finally said after too long of a pause. “We’re just
leaving?”

“We will be back soon
enough. There is little to worry about. Zeph assured us that our
credits will count-”

“That’s not what I’m
talking about, Lee.” She leaned back in her chair and gave a glance
towards Roland. “I’m talking about the fact that we’re…we’re
running away.”

Lee’s straight back got even straighter,
“Sara, please understand that this is far beyond anything we can
handle on our own.”

Al was taken back
slightly. “You have to realize the danger we’re all in. We don’t
even know who, let alone
what
we are dealing with.”

“Yeah, I was there,
remember?” She crossed her arms in a defensive manner. “Those guys
were a bunch of freaks for sure – but that means we run away and
hide?”

“They were trying to
kidnap Al and are most likely working with the Man of Mist. That
alone should be enough for us to be afraid, and now after what they
did to Sky, there is no telling what they will do.” Lee kept his
voice low, but urgent.

Sara stared blankly at him for a beat,
“What?” It looked like she wanted to laugh it off, but the
intensity behind Lee’s eyes kept her attitude in check, “What do
you mean, ‘what they did to Sky’? He seemed fine when we left, and
he seems fine now.”

Al couldn’t believe it,
“Nobody told you?” No wonder it seemed like they were on completely
different pages, but it was true, Sara never showed her face when
all the commotion was going on, “Last night Soul grabbed Sky from
his room and dropped him in the Snow where he got possessed by a
Fury.”

Sara’s face went white. “What?”

“These guys aren’t joking
around.” Al didn’t like the way her eyes drifted away and her face
hardened into a mask of emotion he couldn’t place. “We’ll be safe
on Haigon.” He couldn’t tell if she was scared, worried, or angry.
“Sara?” He said softly, trying to call her back.

She stood quickly without
a glace at either one of them and headed straight for the
door.

**********

Sky hadn’t even had time
to exhale as the door to the Common’s whooshed open and he found
himself face to face with Sara.

“Fancy meeting you here.”
He tried to joke, not quite as uncomfortable as he should have been
just inches from her nose.

She pushed him farther
back into the hallway and let the door shut behind her. He couldn’t
read her expression; he didn’t know what to do.

“
They told me what
happened to you.” She locked her eyes onto his. “Sky…” she leaned
towards him and he froze.

Her arms grabbed onto him and pulled him
directly into her and she embraced him securely. He wanted to hug
her back, but was afraid if he moved she would stop.

“I will protect you.” She
whispered to him, holding onto him, making sure he heard every
word, “Once your spirit has been opened to the Fury they will
always call for you. My people were the guardians. We know how to
fight the Fury and I
will
protect you.”

“Sara…” He choked on his
words, feeling her start to pull away.
She
must really think I’m pathetic.

Yeah she does.
Zar answered.
But play
it up, she’s a looker.

He saw it there in her
eyes, the pity, and something new, something he had never seen in
her face before.

“If you tell anyone about
this, I will have to kill you though.” She smiled sweetly, trying
to mask her fear.

He smiled back and nodded, still lost for
actual words.

“
I’m not joking. I’ll
literally kill you.” She shrugged and walked back towards the
commons.

With a long squeal cut
short by a crackle, his dad’s voice was filled the air, “Strap in
boys and girl. We’re talking off within the next few minutes.” He
boomed over the loudspeaker.

“
Come on, let’s go sit
down.” Sara sighed.

He walked in to all eyes
on him, which was an unwelcomed surprise. Pretending not to notice,
he weaved through the tables towards Al and Lee and
plopped down, leaving the seat next to the window
open for Sara.

“Oh, P.S.,” his dad’s
voice reverberated around the circular room, “Make sure you like
who you’re sitting next to, it will be a bit until we hit open
space and interspace law requires you to stay buckled and seated
until we do.”

Sky’s shoulders dropped
when he noticed old four eyes in the corner across the room. He
couldn’t just leave him there by himself.

“
Don’t worry.” Al stood up
and pushed Sky back down, “I’ve got this one.” Al shrugged as he
addressed the rest of the table in a mock whisper, “I’m a lot less
likely to get punched in the face.”

Al strode over and dropped
down in the seat across from Roland. “Hi, I’m Al, I don’t know that
we ever officially met.”

“No we haven’t, but be
assured, I know who you are. I was thoroughly briefed on all of
you.” Roland said briskly, without looking up from the book he had
pulled from his bag.

“
Wow, you read Thorton too?” Al nodded towards the
book.

Roland looked
complacently, his small spectacles rolling down his nose
“
You’ve
read
Thorton? I highly doubt that.”

Sky’s stomach dropped, knowing the reason Al
loved stories and poetry.

Al closed his eyes and
smiled sadly. “My mom liked to write and loved all sorts of poetry.
Her favorite was
sleep
child
, by Hugh Thorton, so I made sure to
read all his poems.”

Roland looked slightly impressed.
“Really?”

Al leaned back and looked up at the ceiling.
“Yup. Pretty twisted stuff actually.”

Roland let a smile touch his lips and he
looked back down to his book. “Indeed.”

Al let the moment hold and didn’t intrude.
It was Roland who broke the silence. “Have you ever been to Haigon
before?”

Al shrugged slightly, “Nope. Sky has though,
but because it’s classified as a forbidden planet my dad wouldn’t
let me go before.”

Roland seemed satisfied
with that answer, and began to relax. “I haven’t been there either,
but I’ve researched it immensely.”

“
Ha. So you like
researching eh? Seems like we’ve got a lot in common.”

Maybe Sky’s fear was all
for naught. Al and Roland seemed to be hitting it off, which he had
to admit, was a relief. In all honesty, Sky didn’t know if he could
have handled making idle conversation with that guy at the moment
anyway.

“Al is pretty adorable.
You can’t help but like him, even Roland didn’t stand a chance.”
Sara remarked, following Sky’s gaze.

Sky beamed like a proud
parent, “He’s always been good with people, reading them and acting
accordingly.”

Lee nodded, “Yes, he is a very agreeable
person.”

Sara put her hand to her
chin feigning deep contemplation, “I wonder why none of that rubbed
off on you, Sky?”

Sky did his best to mimic
her thoughtful expression, “I generally rely on my good looks to
get me ahead in life, but I understand how some people must rely on
other things, such as personality, to achieve the same results.
What do you use, Sara?”

Sara smiled her devils grin, “If we weren’t
required by law to remain in our seats right now I would be beating
you senseless. Just so you know.”

“
Oh, I know.” Sky laughed.
He snuck a look over to Al who seemed to be keeping up the
conversation with Roland just fine.

“
Poor Sky misses his
widdle Ally-Al.” Sara mocked, having noticed his wandering
eyes.

Sky tried to turn on his most dramatic face,
“Being without him is like trying to walk without gravity.”

“That is such a nice thing
to say.” Lee completely missed the joke.

“But really, I want to
talk to him.” Sky slouched down into his chair. “I haven’t gotten a
chance to really…” He trailed off.

“Don’t worry about it.”
Sara leaned as far forward as she could in her restraints, “They’ll
be lots of chances to talk to him when we land, right?” She said
cheerfully.

“It’s just…Soul had said-”
He started.

“
We’re going far away
where they can’t get to Al…or any of us.”

“No, that’s not it.” Sky
clamped his mouth shut and hung on to his words as long as he
could, but eventually they came out anyway, “I think we’ve got them
all wrong. Con, and Soul. They aren’t with the Man of
Mist.”

“Back up and then start
over.” Sara crossed her arms and leaned back with a touch of
annoyance, “Are you serious? Who care’s who they’re with – they
tried to kidnap Al. That masked freak-show got you marked by a
Fury! They aren’t the good guys; that’s for damn sure.”

“They aren’t after the
Book of Nine.” Sky cut in. “They were there to protect Al. They
were there to protect all of us.”

“Seriously? You were there
right?” Her words dripped with sarcasm, “That guy was willing to
kill an Iko to get to Al, and you say he was there to protect
us!”

“I do agree. They did not
act as if they were protecting anything Skyden.” Lee placed a calm
hand on the table.

“
Soul said it was just an
act, so that Marcus would agree to let Al leave.”

“Well it was quite a
convincing show.” Sara snorted. “Did Soul say this before or after
he tossed you into the Snow?”

Sky stole another glance
in Al’s direction. He was still in conversation with Roland, but
Sky could tell by the way he was tilting his head that he was
listening to every word they were saying. “I still trust
him.”

“Are you insane?” Sara
looked over to Al and then between Sky and Lee. “I’m not having
this discussion anymore.” She closed her eyes and leaned her head
back in her chair. “You may be stupid and gullible, but I’m not.
Those guys betrayed us Sky and that’s all there is to it. I know
you want to believe they were your friends, but they’re not, they
never were.”

Sky stared at the one
black speck that blemished the shiny gloss of the white table.
“Soul is my brother.” His voice came out like venom. “He’s my
family.”

“Do you understand what he
did to you?” She spat. “You don’t do that to
family
.”

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t
fair that they would hate Soul when all he was doing was trying to
save them. “Whatever.” He sulked. This was going to be a long
couple of hours.